French investor looking for a new market to buy tk or rp

[Loic Billiau]

Hi there,

We invested back in 2012 in Tampa and we sold all our portfolio after having changed our PM and be hugely disappointed with him.

We're looking a new place to invest around 400-500k$.

We had in Tampa several Single Family units and our first PM managed it very well, giving us a nice cap of 8-9% (way more than any investment available in France) But then the PM quit doing it and specialized in wholesale/properties flip

I read several studies on where to invest next and it seems than Texas or Georgia (north carolina) would be the best picks. We'd like a good cashflow with a steady property value increase though cashflow is the first priority there.

Hence a couple of questions for you, fellow and wise investors :
1. single family, multi family or condo ? wich provides the safer and steadier cashflow ?
2. Fort Worth, Austin ? Charlotte ? (i'm afraid of the humidity there as it caused in Tampa several issues with our investments) What about Arizona, like phoenix, or Utah like Provo ?

How can we find a good Property manager once we'd find the best spot to invest ? It seems that it's the thoughest thing to find.

Any help appreciated

Jolly Overseas

[David Faulkner]

Your experience with bad property management is unfortunately all too common. In my experience, there are many more bad PMs out there than good ones, so the odds are somewhat stacked against you in this regard. It is one of the major reasons I advise not to invest in RE from afar. If you are an accredited investor (can google the requirements, not sure what the rules for foreign nationals are) then you may have luck with multifamily syndications ... I like these better because unlike a turnkey or PM, the provider's financial interests are better aligned with yours ... the more money you make, the more money they make. Yes, they still use PMs, but they have much more scale and experience on their side than you do as a solo investor, which makes a huge difference. Another option would be to work the business from the loan side instead of the equity side. Become a lender to an investor in a 1st lien position, collect the cashflow without dealing with the hassles of PMs or being an owner, and if the payments stop you can foreclose to cover your investment ... the yield may be slightly lower (8-10%), but it is more passive. Finally, don't overlook publicly traded REITs ... the providers there are big and you'll get access to scale and a fully diversified real estate portfolio. And last, but not least by any stretch, learn to invest in your local market. Do NOT assume that you can't make good returns in your local market because prices or higher or whatever reason ... there are a ton of ways to make a profit in real estate ... so many, in fact, that I believe there are skilled professional real estate investors doing well in each and every market around the world ... find one in your market, find a way to add value to their operations, and learn what they are doing to succeed. It may very well not be buy and hold for cashflow ... that's ok ... profits from other strategies spend just the same, so don't paint yourself into a corner with just one strategy just because you or others have some dogmatic view that it is the only "right way to invest". The grass is rarely greener on the other side of the fence, it is just a different shade of green.